Merry

[Beau]

Originally posted by MARINEVET Yeah Beau...dem wuz da dayz!

The aunt & uncle WERE good folks...hard working...no aires about'm.

As for Honky Tonks and their demise...happens all over. Last time I was in Ohio (2005 for Reunion), I said to one of the guys, let's go get a beer at Vern's...they lookin' at me as if I wuz nuttz...me sayin' WHAT?...they sayin' Vern's is now a parkin' lot for a Quick Stop (Gas/food/etc)...ahhhhhhh the pain of it all...!

Semper Fi from the Sands of Kandahar,

Well, high school and the old days ... I was out this morning, taking stuff to the Recylce Center (and we should all Recycle, Conserve, and keep the Earth clean ... maybe its too late but I do) ... then stopped by a store to pick up alot of Emergency Water (Quakes, Natural and Un Natural disasters ... and we should all have a supply of Emergency stuff ... ). I ran into and chased down this guy from my Grade School and High School days ... (he was short then and had this "tough" guy / low life guy character .... I never seen him in a fight and he did all he could to avoid the Draft/military service .... little man complex ... a tough guy ... always Joe Cool delinquent ... a cig smoker since birth ... dinky Napolean) and his SUV companion that I saw drive by me in the parking lot ... I went over to their vehicle and did some jive like "... hey, buddy ... whyd yah give me that dirty look" ... and then he gets out ... I had to explain it was me ... and thats the short part of the story. My thoughts while that was taking place, was this little Old Man ... leathering up now ... hadnt really changed an effn bit ... there I be, knowing that this micro man knew nothing of me then, could know nothing about me now ... we had really nothing in common ... can never ... and I was standing there in my Nam hat talking to a 57 year old, low life 8th grader ... some things of the past gotta die.

Now ... over the last couple of decades I had called him ... when I cut off the talk and was walking away ... he said "Beau, give me a call ... I got the same number ".

I half turned around and pointed at him and said, and I hope it was packed with my withheld observations ... ... old, past guy ... "NO, YOU CALL ME!" and I hope you dont ...

the only old things, in my opinion, are songs of the Everly Brothers and their magnificent harmony ... and many a good old style Movie Theaters.

[MARINEVET]

James:

Saw your comment on the other (Gen) formum sector...and yeah...I DID VOLUNTEER...dang...ya'd think I'da lernt sumthin' in 34+ years in the Crotch! :re:

This certain IS an "interesting" venture. Purty dang frustrating to me lately, but someone has to be over here trying to make a positive difference! IF you've seen my posts on the Enduring Freedom sector, and some other comments scattered around the Forum, you know that things ain't goin' real good over here!

Lesssee...it's New Years Eve here (1850 or so)...so IF these chuckleheads are anything like the NVA/VC, we should get some incoming tonite...ya know...to ring in the New Year and all. Will be interesting to see IF there's any firing of weapons/pyro from our lines...???...doubt it...not like it was in RVN where anything outside the wire was pretty much a free-fire zone.

We do our best at staying safe over here...certainly no heroics at this age, but as you and the others well-know, there's always risk about...incoming, IEDs, stray SAF...etc.

Your upcoming trips sound super...! Make sure you give us some After Action Reports on them.


Beau:

Yeah, those kinda guys are in just about everyone's life in one way or another. I notice the same thing when I go "home" to Ohio every few years...interesting how I always run into those guys. Then too, when I was in High School, I was more the "Jam" than the "Rah Rah"...so maybe there's still some sort of hood (hoodlum) thing going on there?!?!?!?! Never have any problem with folks there, however, and is usually an enjoyable time. Just don't think it's ever possible to really "go back" or "go home" after being away so long...seeing so many things the folks who stayed around there will never see...etc.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year.

Semper Fi from the Cold (in the 30s) and Windy Sands of Kandahar,

[Beau]

Originally posted by MARINEVET James:


We do our best at staying safe over here...certainly no heroics at this age, but as you and the others well-know, there's always risk about...incoming, IEDs, stray SAF...etc.


Beau:

...................... .......................

Then too, when I was in High School, I was more the "Jam" than the "Rah Rah"...so maybe there's still some sort of hood (hoodlum) thing going on there?!?!?!?! Never have any problem with folks there, however, and is usually an enjoyable time. Just don't think it's ever possible to really "go back" or "go home" after being away so long...seeing so many things the folks who stayed around there will never see...etc.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year.

Semper Fi from the Cold (in the 30s) and Windy Sands of Kandahar,

Colonel .... jeeze, I still cant call you Wayne like EXLRRP did. I guess in some ways their is hardwiring with the formal military protocal ... kind of runs agin the grain with my Rebel without a Cause purpose.

You know that on my Litter sojourns I do send "up" positive requests (call them "prayers") for you and yours (keep his wife and daughter etc safe ... keep the colonel intact, etc) ... this sunday morning I put in about 2 hours of cleaning one of my Train station's driving lots ... jeeezee the booze bottles, beer cans, Wendys burger bags, Diapers, etc that I pick up ... there is alot of low life/enemy in our country (parking lots to) ... so, I did my positive duty and included you and yours in my "prayers" along with alot of others ... and it is alone time for me to look back at the litter in my own brain and how I may have littered up others lives, directly and indirectly ... I do believe we will all have Life Reviews before "The Light" ... sure dont hurt to have some Liter sojourns and introspection on your side, si, or no ? The positive things like you and others are doing there ... maybe it is slow progress but its better than a fast assault our homeland had (perhaps) we/you guys not done the deed ? .... yah, I think so.

Yah, you cant "go home" and if the old "home" crowd comes to find me ... then in a way it helped me edit that past life ... it's like telling the young kid back then, the one still inside ... "yah, you were right in splitting town as soon as high school was over ... you were right in breaking off from certain crowds, even if there was ugly alone time ..." Well, I think one can edit the past ... as if past, present and future are just richocheting around.

A "jam" is a bad boyz ?

Hope yah diitnt too much incoming last night .... Happy New Year !

Yes ... some folks that stuck out the home town ... like that guy ... never lived in another state, never took higher education, never went to other countrys in a warzone ... just remained stuck (no classic music, no classic art and doodles, no adventures .... but they have a house and Wal Mart kitchen decour).

Beau

POST SCRIPT (6:00 P.M. PAC) .... I had the most wonderful talk to the kid ... and it was to, rather than with, though a with triggered the to) ... I impress me.

POST POST SCRIPT (9:52) ... AH, 2007 is going to be a better year ! SETTING THE STAGE: There is a County Fair in my town and that means Race Horses ... and that means there is a long time Steak and Seafood Bar and Restaraunt that was at one time a local Grill and old stlye pub but now turned Upscale ... BUT THE OLD SIGNAGE is still there on the exterior ... it is "Hap's" ... the sign runs vertical with a green neorn Horse head at the top and "Hap's" lettering running vertical, with a red neon cocktail glass with a red Swizzle stick in it running perpendicular to the lettering ... and at the bottom, the words "Steak and Seafood" ... now in my talk with my daughter, I said "inside I am still at various ages ..." ... and lord when I was free and late 20s, me and me boyz went into "Hap's" of the old times before the Upscale disease hit ... when it was a bar and a few dinner tables and on weekends a Country Band played, all decked out with a dude in a Toupee and Electric Guitar ... and a dance floor ... and I clearly remember doing something equivalent to a "dirty dance" with a lass ... and some patron said "I liked that" .... Well, for years now the "little woman" at home has been telling me to take her to the Upscale "Hap's" ... tonight we went with the daughter ... not exactly like the old days but me lady got a big kick outta it ... "finally took me to Hap" .... (and I looked through the fancy glass partition and swear I saw this late 20ish young brown lad, dirty dancin with a willing lass ... and I smiled.

Sal Si Puedes

[1CAVCCO15MED]

I wandered around and then went home. Thing is, home goes away. Lives evolve and it is mildly interesting to observe people going headlong to the destiny their actions caused. It wasn't worth hanging around to watch but there are other compensations. My family is here for the most part and the region is very beautiful.

[MARINEVET]

Great stuff Warriors...would reply more but net keeps crashing...still...enjoyed it all...and it's all "life" when looking back/at/forward...and...I'm liking it all because it's been "me" and I'd probably do MOST of it all over again, and PROBABLY in the same manner!

Cherish such "talks" Beau.....

Surprise...NO Incoming last nite...woulda thought for sure we'da got some...just hope they weren't saving up for tonite/later/etc...!

Hope everyone enjoys their New Year's Day...our here is almost over.

Semper Fi from the Cold Sands of Kandahar,

El Lobo Viejo Griz de Kandahar,

[MORTARDUDE]

Wayne :

Happy New Year to you and yours !!

Larry

[Beau]

Originally posted by MARINEVET ... it's been "me" and I'd probably do MOST of it all over again, and PROBABLY in the same manner!
Semper Fi from the Cold Sands of Kandahar,

El Lobo Viejo Griz de Kandahar,

"it's been 'me' ..."

THERE IT IS ... a "free" man ... a "centered" man ... thats not as common as it should be.

[MARINEVET]

Thanks Larry...same to you and yours and hoping a gr8 year for us ALL...!!!

And Beau...not too common...not as common as it should be BUT much more common among the folks here on our Forum than on the "outside"...least that's the way I see it. We have truly BTDT...have more than just the T-shirts, ball caps, belt buckles, coffee mugs and other trinkets to prove it...yeah...we have all those neat things, but we've got experience gained under some very trying situations that allow us to be a Breed apart...Warriors all!

Semper Fi from the Coooooold (down into the low 30s or high 20s tonite) Sands of Kandahar,

Lobo

[frisco-kid]

Have really been enjoying your SITREPS, and not just because they're interesting. They also tell us that you're okay.

Kath and I have spent a week at our daughter's in the Jackson Hole, WY, area. They live in Victor, ID, on the other side of Teton Pass from Jackson at about 6000'; never got above 30F the whole time we were there.

I wish you and all your people a Happy and SAFE New Year. Thank you for all you do.

Stay warm and, more importantly, stay small, Sir.

[MARINEVET]

...and...thanks for your thanks!

Don't wanna bug folks with SITREPs...not like I'm out fightin' the bad guys or anything...I mean I am, w/re to assisting with the effort, but not out with the Kandaks (Battalions). Here at the Corps (actually their corps are more like very light InfDivs) level, we're doing the broad Blue Arrow stuff. Then too, we do see the bigger picture. And too, we do continue to live with and among danger on a daily basis...merely comes with being here in The 'Stan, and especially the Southern AO.

Hope you and Kath had a great time with your Daughter and her family...what a beautiful part of our Great Nation!!!

The temp did get down into the 20s last nite...colder than predicted. Heck...lotta places colder than here, but not many with such a great temp range...from 130+ in the shade in the summer to 20s in the winter...!

Net just came back up (yeah...I say this all the time but we're lucky to even have I-net here)...gonna fly this while I can.

Thanks Tom, and to all of you for your continued support of our Deployed Forces.

Semper Fidelis from the Coooooold Sands of Kandahar,